The Monster
by LuxaLucifer
Summary: "We're heading for The Three Broomsticks' grate, so just step in and say Hogsmeade very clearly...Hermione, have you ever used Floo before?" Hermione shook her head, and as he explained to her exactly how to do it, she was reminded with painful awareness of exactly how good of a teacher he was. It was easy to forget how difficult the life of a werewolf was.


Disclaimer- I don't own it, I promise.

I changed the ending a bit because of something a reviewer mentioned to me, and I like it better now. Enjoy! :)

Harry was fuming. Harry was partly fuming because he was actually angry, but partly because of guilt. Lupin's angry and tormented face was haunting him, even as he, Ron, and Hermione planned their excursion into the Ministry to retrieve the Horcrux.

_'You have only ever seen me amongst the Order, or under Dumbledore's protection at Hogwarts! You don't know how most of the Wizarding world sees creatures like me! When they know of my affliction, they can barely talk to me!'_

"He's right, you know," said Harry dully to Hermione and Ron one day as Ron and Hermione pored over their plans. "Lupin. We have no idea how everyone else treats him."

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.

"Well," began Hermione hesitantly. "_We _do. That summer after the Triwizard Tournament...Ron and I went into Hogsmeade to get your present, and Lupin went with us. Oh, Harry, it was..."

"Awful," supplied Ron. "It was bloody awful."

* * *

"It's Harry's birthday next week."

The idea that something like a birthday could be happening when Voldemort had just returned and Ron and Hermione had been relocated to 12 Grimmauld Place to spend a gloomy summer seemed inherently wrong, especially considering that Harry wasn't there to spend his birthday with them.

"How mad do you think he is?" asked Hermione, chewing her lip.

Ron shrugged. "Hedwig crapped all over my bed last time she delivered a letter. What does that tell you?"

Hermione couldn't help but wrinkle her nose. "Did you get someone to clean that up for you? I'm sure Fred and George would do it."

Ron snorted. "Like hell they would. Nah, I don't think anyone cares. Sirius would probably crap on it himself if he could figure out how."

"That I would," muttered a voice from behind them. Sirius sidled down from the staircase that the banister they were sitting on belonged to. He smiled at them, not aware that his still-gaunt face made his smile a little scary. He'd at least cut his hair again (at Mrs. Weasley's insistence) and had much better clothing available to his disposal than his Azkaban prison rags.

Ron laughed nervously. It was strange to be living in this house with Harry there, and although Ron and Hermione liked Sirius, there was no denying that Azkaban had done a number on him.

"Your mother's got breakfast ready in the dining room," said Sirius, his smile fading slightly. "Bacon, from the smell of it."

Hermione returned his smile finally. "Sounds good."

They followed Sirius to the kitchen, which had been hastily cleaned so that it was habitable for the human race. Sirius sat at the head of the table, while Ron and Hermione plopped onto seats next to him.

Mrs. Weasley pushed two plates in front of them just as Fred and George entered the kitchen, yawning widely.

"Ginny's still asleep, Mum," said Fred, rubbing his eyes. "She'll probably be up by tomorrow morning."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "Honestly, that girl. She sleeps later and later...I expect that from the boys, but not her..."

Sirius laughed his bark-like laugh. "You should have seen my cousin Andromeda. Once, after an all-nighter, she slept eighteen hours."

Mrs. Weasley looked torn between amusement and disapproval, so she cracked a quick smile and busied herself with the twins' plates.

"Oh," remembered Ron. "Mum, it's Harry's birthday next week, and we haven't gotten him anything."

Mrs. Weasley stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh dear...I'd forgotten, with all this Order business...if only I'd remembered, Arthur was in Diagon Alley only last week...and I've got so much to do around here, and Dumbledore's asked me to go talk to Hestia Jones about joining the Order..."

Her ramblings were interrupted by Lupin, who appeared at the foot of the stairs fully dressed, with Sirius's Daily Prophet in the crook of his arm. He accepted a cup of tea and toast from Mrs. Weasley before sitting at the other end of the table from Ron and Hermione.

Lupin had moved into Grimmauld Place the same time as Sirius, but for all that Ron and Hermione liked him, he had dutifully avoided more than passing pleasantries. It was Hermione's opinion that Lupin thought they didn't like him after Ron's reaction to him in the Shrieking Shack, while Ron maintained that Lupin was obviously just busy.

"We could go to Diagon Alley by ourselves, Mum," said Ron hopefully.

This was a bad suggestion. Even Lupin winced from behind his Daily Prophet as Mrs. Weasley turned red and said fiercely, "You shall do no such thing, not with You-Know-Who back and people disappearing left and right! We'll have to find someone to go with you, that's all! I'm sure someone in the Order will be stopping by that can take you!"

"I would if I could," muttered Sirius darkly. Lupin cast him a sympathetic look before returning to his paper.

There was a long pause, during which George cackled loudly as a result of whatever he and Fred were talking about. Casting a worried glance at the twins, Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"If I have to, then I suppose I can..."

Lupin cleared his throat awkwardly, putting the Prophet down. "I'm, er, going to Hogsmeade today...I'm delivering a message to Dumbledore and picking up a few things. If you want, I can take them."

There was another poignant pause. Everyone looked at Ms. Weasley except Lupin, who stared determinedly at the table. Mrs. Weasley was always polite to Lupin, but would she let him take Ron and Hermione off by himself, knowing what he was? Mrs. Weasley wrung her hands on a cloth before saying, "If you wouldn't mind them tagging along, then I suppose there's no harm. Ron, Hermione?"

Ron and Hermione both nodded, and Ron said, "Yeah, sure, anything to get out of the house."

Sirius abruptly stood up and left the table. Lupin stood up too. "I was planning on leaving soon. Get ready; we'll Floo there."

Twenty minutes later saw Ron and Hermione dressed and nervously waiting in front of the main fireplace, Ron shifting from foot to foot.

"Remember the money for the present?" he asked awkwardly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, Ron, I remembered the money. It's basically all we need to bring. Did you remember your wand?"

Ron promptly swore and ran upstairs, bumping into Lupin as he descended the stairs.

Lupin looked like he was barely suppressing a smile. "He hasn't changed much, has he?"

Hermione shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder about him and Harry...they can be so immature."

"Ah, well, that's not really their fault," replied Lupin, leaning against the brick fireplace. "Girls mature faster. You're doomed, I'm afraid."

She smiled tentatively, aware that this was the first real conversation she'd had with him since he'd left Hogwarts. "Probably. But I wouldn't trade him-or Harry-for the world."

"Yes, that's how I felt about-" Lupin was interrupted by Ron storming down the stairs with his wand in his teeth.

"I'm ready!" he shouted, his voice muffled.

"We can see," said Lupin, sounding bemused. "We're heading for The Three Broomsticks' grate, so just step in and say _Hogsmeade _very clearly...Hermione, have you ever used Floo before?"

Hermione shook her head, and as he explained to her exactly how to do it, she was reminded with painful awareness of exactly how good of a teacher he was.

When they stepped through the gate into The Three Broomsticks, Hermione and Ron dusted off their robes, Ron patting Hermione's hair as she coughed. Lupin, instead of waiting for them as they expected, set off at a brisk pace through the bar, barely stopping to nod at Madam Rosmerta. What was even more surprising was the way the usually even-tempered Madam Rosmerta's face contorted into a grimace.

Still wheezing, Hermione and Ron caught up to Lupin as he excited the tavern.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "I don't like lingering in there."

"Why?" asked Hermione curiously.

Not meeting their eyes, Lupin said evenly, "I should have warned you. You might see some unpleasantness because you're traveling with me. You see, this is the first time I've been to Hogsmeade since I left Hogwarts. I wish I could just meet up with you later, but Molly's right, it's too dangerous."

Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous glances.

"We'll be okay," said Hermione. "We'll follow your lead."

Lupin set off again and they had to trot to keep up with his long strides. Ron and Hermione tried not to see the cold looks people shot Lupin. Once, a mother pulled her child away from him. Lupin didn't even seem to notice.

Lupin paused as they approached the main thoroughfare. "Where would you like to shop?"

"I dunno," said Ron. "Let's just poke around a bit."

Ron headed towards the shop nearest to them, unaware of the sudden pained expression on Lupin's face."

"Professor," said Hermione hesitantly. "Are you-"

"Call me Remus," he said suddenly. "I haven't been your professor for years. Well, I suppose we'd better go after him."

Lupin and Hermione followed Ron into the store. It was a posh store, filled with all sorts of expensive wizarding items, from embroidered stationary to models of the solar system. Hermione thought angrily that Ron must be the most callous person ever, forcing Lupin in his shabby robes to go somewhere he was so obviously uncomfortable being.

The shop-owner, when he saw Lupin, gasped involuntarily. His face went stark white and he took a step back. "P-Pleasure to meet you both," he managed. "Welcome to my s-shop."

Lupin smiled thinly. "The pleasure's all mine."

He stood by the door as Ron shifted through merchandise, looking more and more disgruntled as he checked various price tags.

"Everything's too expensive," he grumbled.

"I could have told you that," she hissed. "Let's get out of here."

Hermione practically dragged Ron out of the shop. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, the shop-owner sigh with relief as Lupin left.

"Where to next?" asked Lupin.

"Zonko's," decided Ron.

Hermione was pleased to see that Lupin brightened considerably when he said this.

Zonko's was a store that Hermione never went into while Ron, on the other hand, loved it, although maybe not on the level that Fred and George did. Ron quickly lost himself in rummaging through joke products while Hermione listened to Lupin and the proprietor's conversation.

"Remus," said the shop-owner. "Long time no see! You haven't been in since that business at Hogwarts a couple of years ago."

"I don't go out to wizarding communities much," replied Lupin. "For obvious reasons. Besides, Zonko, I don't like going into stores when I can't buy anything."

"I always have time for old patrons," said Zonko cheerfully. "You and your friends kept me in business for years, almost right up until the Weasleys came along. I loved hearing from the Hogwarts teachers what new pranks you lot got up to."

"My friends loved pulling them," said Lupin, smiling slightly. "It's good to see you."

Zonko jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. "These yours?"

Lupin's face colored so magnificently that Hermione had to turn away so as not to laugh. "N-No, one's a Weasley. Both are former students."

"That's right, your kind don't usually breed, do they?" asked Zonko, oblivious to the way Lupin's cheeks stayed red for an entirely different reason.

"...No, they don't."

Zonko continued on, either unaware or uncaring of Lupin's sudden discomfort. "What have you been up to lately, after Hogwarts?"

"Oh, this and that..."

Hermione sidled over to Ron. "Find anything?"

Ron shook his head mournfully. "Nothing that really jumps out at me..."

"We have those!" yelled Zonko in Ron's direction. "In the back of the store!"

Ron ignored this and said to Hermione, "I don't think Harry would want any of this stuff. Let's try Honeydukes."

Hermione, who was secretly relieved that Harry wouldn't be supplied with explosives when he finally met them face-to-face, agreed heartily.

Lupin said goodbye to Zonko and they left just as a gaggle of kids entered. Two of them were oblivious to Lupin, but three local children saw him and skirted around him, eyes wide.

"Mum showed me a picture of him, she said to stay away from him if he ever dared to come back here again..." whispered one.

"Off to Honeyduke's!" Hermione announced loudly.

She marched them off to Honeyduke's trying not to cry when the whispering started and people started to jeer at Lupin, albeit quietly. Hermione thought she preferred it when people only stared.

Screw S.P.E.W., she thought desperately. People as good and decent and kind as Lupin didn't deserve this. She silently began to create an acronym for a werewolf freedom group.

When they reached Honeyduke's, Lupin told them that he would wait outside.

"I'm afraid I was asked to leave the last time I went in there," he said. "I was getting some chocolate in case I ran into some Dementors, and the proprietor wasn't very happy to see me."

It was all he would say about it, so Ron and Hermione reluctantly went in without him. They decided on two Honeydukes' chocolate bars, both because the Dursleys' never fed Harry well and because they feared he might throw them away anyway.

When they had purchased the chocolate and left the shop, Lupin was exactly where they had left him. He was examining one of the fraying pockets on his robes critically, jumping slightly when they walked up.

"There you are," he said. "You were in there for quite some time. I see you've bought something?"

"Chocolate bars," said Ron, holding them up just in case Lupin didn't have ears. "They're good."

"Yes, Ron," said Lupin, smirking a bit. "I'm aware."

"You're done shopping, I presume?" he asked, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Yes, quite done," replied Hermione promptly.

"Then we should get a move on, I've got to drop a message from Dumbledore off at the Hog's Head."

Lupin set off at his brisk pace again, Hermione watching him closely as people around them jeered at him. On the surface, Lupin didn't appear to be bothered, but if you looked closely, the lines around his mouth were tighter and he only looked straight ahead. Hermione's heart went out to him.

They stopped outside a dingy bar that looked as thought it had never seen a good cleaning, not ever. Lupin pushed open the door without hesitating and looked back at them.

"Well," he said. "Come in."

They followed, keeping close to him. The bar was surprisingly full for the middle of the day, wizards with hoods and cloaks and all sorts of odd garments nursing their drinks in secluded corners.

Lupin approached the tall, thin bartender. "I have a message for you."

The man squinted at him. "Wait...I know you...you're the werewolf, right?"

"Yes," said Lupin evenly. "I'm the werewolf."

He pulled a rolled piece of parchment from a pocket in his robes and handed it to the bartender. "From Albus."

The bartender squinted at it. "He knows I'll probably burn it, doesn't he?"

"Knowing Dumbledore, yes."

Lupin shot the bartender a quick smile before ushering Ron an Hermione out of the bar.

"I was going to get some Quick-Patch Solution from the secondhand store around here," said Lupin slowly, checking a battered Muggle watch on his wrist. "But I think it may be getting too late."

"It's only, like, two," said Ron. "We haven't been out for ages!"

Hermione didn't say anything, but she crossed her fingers behind her back and hoped for the best.

Lupin was just about to reply when there was a sound from behind them. A small child about twenty feet away from Lupin was staring at them, eyes wide and fearful. Rocks were beginning to levitate all around him. Ron looked at Hermione, mouth open.

"What in the name of Merlin's balls is that kid doing?" he asked.

No one moved. Suddenly, a rock shot towards Lupin, hitting him in the chest before he had a chance to block it. His head shot up and he instinctively moved towards his wand until he saw who was doing it. Ron and Hermione watched, shocked and unsure of what to do. The few people on the street stopped to watch and whisper, no one stopping the child from pelting another rock at Lupin.

Then everything turned into chaos. The child began to bawl and rocks rose up like a big, gray cloud, all turned towards Lupin. They showered Lupin, bombarding him with painful thuds. Ron and Hermione began to back up as rocks skittered around their feet. Lupin still didn't move, his hands protecting his face.

People around them watched, rapt with attention, their mouths slowly beginning to curve upwards in smiles as Lupin took an involuntary step back. Hermione gasped as she saw a spot of blood begin to stain the front of his robes.

"Remus!" she yelled. "Get out of there!"

The people around her stirred.

"Shhh!" one hissed. "That's what the beast deserves for tricking poor Dumbledore so he could get near that innocent children."

A woman to her right, her face pale, whispered, "The monster."

"He didn't-" began Hermione hotly, but there was no point. The child's mother ran out of a house and scooped up her child, causing an end to the rock hailstorm. She began to run toward Lupin, who had collapsed on the ground surrounded by stones of all shapes and sizes, only to see who it was and back away, clutching her child.

"He won't hurt you," Hermione and Ron heard her say. "I won't let him hurt you!"

The woman ran, looking behind her at Lupin, who was slowly standing back up, hand pressed to his stomach. She gave a small shriek of terror and ran even harder. Slowly, the crowd around them dispersed so that it was only Hermione, Ron, and Lupin left. Hermione and Ron hurried to Lupin's side and helped him up.

"Remus," said Hermione, breathless with worry. "Remus, are you okay?"

Lupin drew his wand, causing Hermione and Ron to flinch, but he only waved his wand over his bloody robes, making the still-spreading spain disappear.

"Back to the Hog's Head," Lupin managed, and they helped him half-walk, half-stumble back to the dirty pub. When in, they collapsed at one of the tables. The bartender stared at them in surprise and started to approach, but Lupin shook his head very slightly, and the bartender turned back to his liqueur.

Ron and Hermione hovered over him, unsure what to do. Lupin didn't seem to need their help, though- he deftly opened his robes to reveal a blood-soaked undershirt and started muttering healing spells under his breath as he waved his wand over his chest.

"Why..." stammered Hermione. "W-Why did that boy do that? Why didn't anyone stop him?"

Lupin didn't look up from his ministrations, and when he spoke he didn't sound angry, only resigned. "The people of Hogsmeade are generally upset that Dumbledore allowed someone like me to work at Hogwarts. Many of them believe I tricked him into it somehow. As for the boy...what he did wasn't on purpose. He recognized me and his fear triggered his magic into reacting, just like every young magical child does."

"He was that afraid?" whispered Hermione.

Lupin nodded as he waved his wand over a cut on his cheek. "The general wizarding populace is, understandably in many cases, terrified of people like me. Ron, you were raised in this world. You know something about this."

Ron turned pink; he was undoubtedly remembering the way he had yelled at Lupin when he had found out he was a werewolf.

"How do you deal with it?" asked Hermione quietly.

Lupin shrugged. "I have to. I often remind myself that I would likely have been the same way if I hadn't been bitten. They react the way they have been taught to."

"Then we have to raise our children not to behave that way," said Hermione firmly, cheeks reddening, not with embarrassment, but with purpose. "We have to set a better example."

Lupin smiled and, to her surprise, reached over and ruffled her hair. "It wouldn't surprise me if you did just that, Hermione Granger. You are one of the smartest people I've ever met."

Hermione beamed. If that had come from anyone else, Ron might have gagged.

"We better get on back...home," said Lupin, hesitating on the word. "Your mother will begin to miss us."

He pulled his robes out to arm's length and sighed when he saw new rips and tears running the length of it. "Nothing I haven't dealt with before," he muttered, although he was smiling when he turned to Ron and Hermione.

The barman of the Hog's Head let them use his grimy old fireplace, although he grumbled about it the whole time. He probably would have grumbled more if Lupin hadn't thanked him profusely for it.

When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Lupin promptly found an armchair next to Sirius and sat in it, accepting a butterbeer from his old friend and promptly fell asleep before he had to answer any questions from Sirius about the large bruise he'd missed on his forehead or the state of his robes.

After checking in with Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Hermione climbed the stairs, neither of them in the mood to appreciate the twins' jokes. When they reached Ron's bedroom, they sat on the beds and didn't speak for a long time. Ron looked down at the Honeyduke's bag.

"I'm beginning to wonder whether or not this was worth it," he said ruefully.

"Oh, it was worth it," said Hermione, her voice hard. "It was worth it, all right. Don't you understand, Ron? We had to see. We never would have understood if we hadn't."

"Understood what?" asked Ron slowly. He knew, of course, but he didn't want to think about it.

"Understand why Lupin left Hogwarts. Understand why his robes are so shabby. To fully get how messed up and prejudiced wizarding society is, that it's been this way for ages and ages and hardly anyone is trying to change it."

Ron almost opened his mouth to protest; it was, after all, the world he had grown up in- but then he thought of the Malfoys, of Hagrid and Rita Skeeter, of Dobby the house-elf, and finally, of Lupin, shielding himself from an onslaught of rocks as a terrified child cried.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, it is."

* * *

Harry sat heavily on the couch. He had been pacing throughout the story, his shame and guilt deepening further. No, it wasn't right that Lupin was leaving Tonks, but after hearing this, well, he could understand why Ro and Hermione had been so upset at him.

"I definitely feel worse now," he muttered.

"We weren't trying to make you feel worse," said Hermione in a small voice. "It wasn't that at all. We were just trying to show you what it's like for him."

"I knew it wasn't easy for him," said Harry softly. "I just didn't realize exactly how hard it was. There's no excuse for humans to treat each other like this."

"Well, a lot of wizards don't think werewolves are human," said Ron.

Harry and Hermione stared at him, and his face turned pink.

"No, not me, listen! I mean, when I was growing up, you just heard all these stories about werewolves that did terrible things to people, and you never stopped to think about how maybe that wasn't _all_ of them, you just remembered what your mum told you about staying away from them. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," said Harry, "Yeah, it makes loads of sense."

Hermione was looking very proud of Ron, but Harry was thinking about what he'd actually said. Even in the Muggle world, werewolves, while imaginary, are scary. How could he never had realized how Lupin must suffered on a day to day basis? He suddenly remembered how LUpin mentioned that they questioned those left at the wedding, and he felt sick to his stomach. Lupin hadn't said it, but he felt certain that they would have been the harshest on Lupin, tortured him even. Even as he thought it a sick image of Lupin writhing on the ground in terrible pain with his wife and the Weasleys watching, horrified, as a laughing Death Eater with no face pointed a wand at him, laughing.

Harry pulled himself out of the nightmare as he said, "You're right, Hermione. Things need to change."

* * *

Reviews are love! :)


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